I just finished eating a delightful cold meatloaf sandwich. I love meatloaf and I love a good sandwich but I want to talk about a new condiment find I’ve just discovered.

Everyone has heard of the Earl of Sandwich. Supposedly the name we have for food stuffed into some sort of bread comes from his love of them. It has been reported that he liked sandwiches because he could eat them and still play cards. Apparently he was a practical sort of guy.

The Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) also get their name from this noble dude.

I had always assumed that sandwiches in their many styles and forms were predominately an American food idea but Wikipedia says they go back much further than colonial America. We eat peanut butter, bologna, egg salad, tuna fish and many more kinds of sandwiches every day. You can wrap them in waxed paper, plastic bags or old newspapers if you are so inclined. We eat them cold, hot or warmed up. We eat ice cream sandwiches and we eat submarine sandwiches. The main idea of the sandwich extends to hot dogs and sausages and in many ways a burrito is a type of sandwich. After all it’s just a cooked flour wrapper around a filling.

I remember hearing about my namesake, Uncle Bob, eating leftover baked bean sandwiches when I was young and I enjoy them as well. Of course I put mustard on mine, just like my egg sandwich. In fact I like mustard probably more than any other condiment. I usually put mustard on hamburgers which are certainly just another sandwich form.

When I wrote earlier of making an egg sandwich as a young man I mentioned that my father and I both liked mustard on the sandwich. Of course the sandwich that I wrote about making and eating that particular day had a couple of differences from the ones he ate.

First of all, I am primarily a whole grain bread person these days. It’s not that I never eat white bread or use white flour, it’ just that I have come to appreciate the better taste as well as the usefulness of more fiber in my diet. We should all be thinking about the health of our colons but that’s a post I will save for another time.

The other major difference in the two egg sandwiches was the mustard used. I was pretty much raised on French’s yellow mustard and that is a very good everyday mustard. There is nothing bad I can say about it except that I like things a little more lively when they pass over my taste buds.

The mustard I used on my egg sandwich and the mustard I just spread on the bread for my cold meatloaf sandwich is a brand I just discovered and am really enjoying. It’s made in Pendleton, Oregon by a company called Haus Barhyte, Inc. I have had the pleasure of sampling several of the different styles of mustard they make and while they are all very good, this particular flavor has captured my attention. I don’t know if it is found in grocery stores very far from Oregon. It may only be distributed on the west coast. Look for Haus Barhyte Dill Mustard and if you can’t find it in your local store it can be ordered online, of course, at www.mustardpeople.com. These fine folks sell a variety of condiments and sauces and if the Dill Mustard is any indication of their talents, I’m sure you will enjoy any of them.

Of course you do have to like dill as well as mustard in order to enjoy this condiment but for me it allows me to get the dill pickle flavor that I crave on burgers or hotdogs without having actually have the dill pickles on hand. It’s kind of a space saver in the sandwich which allows more room for other stuff like, tomatoes or onions or cheese or “you fill in the blank”.

Remember those big old “Dagwood” sandwiches that Blondie’s husband used to make in the cartoons?

This mustard is creamy and the dill flavor is full and almost crisp. In truth, the flavor almost jumps out at you. One of my wife’s brothers used to coat pork chops and burgers in mustard before he grilled them and I remember them being very tasty. I’m going to try this dill mustard on one of the next burgers I grill. If you love mustard and dill you should try this stuff.

I love a good sandwich. I love a good mustard and I love meatloaf both hot and cold. There is much I can and intend to say in the future about meatloaf. There are thoughts on bread and ground grains that I intend to write about as well. After making all of these promises I hope I haven’t bitten off more than…..well. You get the idea.